MIXTAPE 99 – THE PRIMARIES

Yeah, viagra 60mg a little late. New music, food new design, new year. Shouts to Rashad for the inspiration on this episode concept. I have so much new music it’s not even funny. More episodes in the pipeline. Beattape, bounce tape, soultronicas, new soul (?), and some new tricks up my sleeve. But for right now, let’s get into the primaries…

intro beat – Iain “F a Quantize” Haywood – Switch on the MPC. myspace.com/12pads. What’s this about UK and US releases in 08 son? Hit the comments, do tell.

Labratz - Dirty Slum. Yes, comparisons to Goodie Mobb and early Outkast are easy, but that’s just because so little progressive Southern rap has hit your ears. Lyrics aside, one of the things I really dig about this record is the approach to postproduction – vocals are slowed up, jammed up, tweaked out, but the final mix is still raw to the point where I had to ask Sol if he was actually done with these because so many people nowadays overproduce records that it’s pretty rare to see someone leave that grit in it. I dig. I also must say that I’ve been walking around chanting “Marty McFly, Marty-Marty McFly-Fly” more often than I’d care to admit. myspace.com/labratzmusic

Marco Polo – The Radar feat Large Professor. Large as a guest MC, not a producer. Don’t get it confused though, the drum work on this still goes hard. myspace.com/marcopolobeats.

Tom C3 and Prince Po – Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. The first couple bars of this song reminds me somehow of Lord Quas’ “Come on Feet” for some reason. I was wondering why I hadn’t heard of Tom C3 until I realized he did the Dopestyle 1231 jumpoff (brilliant album art, by the way). Shouts to Nasty Nes for this one. myspace.com/tomc3.

NAAM Brigade – Greatest Man Alive (remix). Well, actually this is more Sonny Black than anything, but still. I’ve heard of these dudes referred to as the Philly Wu-Tang. Who do I need to get on the phone with to figure out what the hell happened to these dudes? You heard them back in Episode 97 with the Message rework. While all these college-rap dudes are trying to recreate some boom-bap sound, NAAM Brigade somehow manages to dig into the early 90s/late 80s with their production and still sound absolutely rough and fresh with the final product.

Jay Electronica – Uprock. Definitely different production from what most have heard of Jay thus far, but damn the dude just eats this breakbeat up. The one man live band strikes again. Jay, if you ever do release Act II, you know you got a home for it here too.

dexalude – [instro: RJD2 - Inhale (remix)]. Internet rumors are crazy.

Bekay - Hunger Pains (prod. Alkota). Like I said, I’ve been following dude for some time (I actually remember his joint with ODB – I think one of the last he recorded), but nothing was quite my flavor – until now. This song isn’t all about “oh I’m white poor me”, but – or what I get from it, anyway – just a series of really screwed up events and situations that often trace back to a uniquely neurotic and American racism. Kinda hard to make it in a minstrel industry without black skin. myspace.com/bekay.

And for the record, the dude sounds nothing like Eminem to me.

Labratz - Creation. So does anyone actually have faith in this straight-ahead government process? I wouldn’t really call myself cynical, but my optimism never really involves fantasizing about real change being brought about through the election of some public official. Black leadership has really fallen off.

As much as I dig the instrumental on this one, you really have to pay attention to the lyrics on this one. I’d quote some here, but seriously, just listen. And then repeat.

“Peace to Barack Obama.”?

MIXTAPE 97 – WEST COAST WINTER

Why is it so cold? Anyway, order other news: Giveaways, rx son!

Yes, I do have 5 copies of 2K Sports’ NBA 2K8 for XBOX 360 (USA version) up for grabs. Merry Christmas, etc. Listen to the show to get details on how to grab your own copy and then post up your ideas in the comments. And as I said, 3 of them will be going out on the site, and two will be going out on the Mixtape Show Facebook Group – you gotta be in it to get the info on how to win one (click here to join up).

Massive, massive shouts to DJ Spaceboy at 2K for making this possible.

This ep – just West Coast all over the place. You’ll like it, I promise.

Strong Arm Steady – Steady Mobbin feat The Game. And Will Blast screaming random ignorant things in the background. No bad feelings though, that just adds to the bananas-factor of this joint. The funky Dago connection is in the house. I love this song. CHUUUUCHmyspace.com/strongarmsteady

Tha D.R.E. – Wild Child. I can’t necessarily vouch for the rest of the record, but for anyone who appreciates Bay Area rap, this cut is a gem. Oddly enough, dude is from Milwaukee.

Unagi – Mo Champagne feat Motion Man. Unagi hit me with this cut and I think I played it 8 times back to back. The dude really is just dope with the loops. unagi442.com.

Johnson&Jonson – La La La. Yes, Blu is in here. Seriously, how are they going to clear these samples? Jon, can you shed some light on this? Either way, this is really dope. (You’ve heard – and seen – Johnson & Jonson here before, by the way). Something to look forward to ’08 – the Powders and Oils album. myspace.com/jandjbabyproducts. I’m not pretending to understand the name, though.

Spice 1 – Playa Man. Again, get well soon, dude. I’m really just now getting into this cat’s music. myspace.com/spiceone.

Double F – Weed, Greed, and Chases at High Speed (prod. Dilla). This off his mildly controversial 2006 Welcome to Cali Jay Dee tribute tape (which almost made it onto the First Impressions tape). Short, to the point, and, well, great. myspace.com/mystadub

Dam Funk – December Sun – At some point the two of us are going to link up and just give you all a ridiculous show. Dam is just too funky with the beats. I know I talked all over this one, but you can go get yourself a listen at his myspace. Check for him on the new 2K8 soundtrack, too. myspace.com/damfunk.

Kam – (Untitled)?. This comes off of a Naam Brigade mixtape (the only one I have, actually). Yes, the Message revamped. You can hate all you like, but I actually dig this song a lot. Naam Brigade somehow pulls of these throwback beats that show the roots of this music without sounding contrived – on the contrary, a lot of their tape goes really, really hard. Kam is pretty great on this cut, and the combination of the NoI references, the commentary on the West Coast gangster rap market, and the parallels to the original cut are pretty interesting. In that vein, the “fag” lines are a little abrasive at first, until you remember that the original cut dropped them the same way. myspace.com/westcoastkam1

Hope you all dug this one. Good luck in the contest, and be on the lookout for a few special editions of the Mixtape Show coming your way very soon…

And on a related note, I know I’m kinda opening myself to the flames by calling anything a “West Coast” episode. Too much great music out here – again this is just a slice of the diversity out here. Feel free to let the recommendations fly in the comments.

First, salve I’m currently compiling material for the second and third episodes of the mixtape. I might be able to get another couple tracks in, so if anyone out there has somethin they want me to hear, get at me. Be looking for the first new drop in the coming week.

Second, although not all of the artists that are featured on here have sites (or even working phones, damn), some do. I’m gonna do my best to link you all up with info on each artist so that you can get more of their material without having to google around for it. With that in mind, then, I gotta give a shout out to Akir – you heard him last week – you can check some of his tracks on that site, for free. And if you’re in the D.C. area, you might even be able to catch him live on the 27th.

Okay, I lied, I have two more things to talk about.

Third. I’m getting great feedback so far about the last show, but if you got anything you want to say, you really just gotta let me know. For example, if you like Artist A, let a brother know, cause more than likely I can get an interview set up with them, and you can get even more info/ish on your favorite Mixtape artists – who knows, maybe some exclusives. We gotta use this rap podcasting thing to its fullest extent, right? And related to my second point, if you are a promoter/label exec/rich benefactor of the arts, and you need to get at one of these artists to set up an event/whatever, try getting at me, I might be able to link you up with them if you can’t find their info elsewhere.

Fourth. Has anybody else out there heard Smitty’s “Diamonds on My Neck”? Ish sounds like something I wrote when I was in fourth grade. Not that that’s a bad thing, I was a child prodigy. Still am. Holler at me.

MIXTAPE SHOW EPISODE 1 – it begins

Yo, purchase what up internets? I’m going to hold off on the introduction for right now and tell you to just do yourself a favor and download the show. Nothing but hype underground hip-hop on this one, and there’s more to come.

opening background track: typical kats – can’t save
doujah raze – spinmatta
atllas – hood famous
nite – icu
offwhyte – kid is raw
naam brigade – where we are
akir – one

If there’s any artists/tracks on here that you dug especially, let me know and I’ll track ‘em down for an interview or more material. And if you need to get in touch with any of these artists for politicking/networking/whatever…holler at me…